Hosts Win Gold Medal

Bosnia and Herzegovina celebrating winning the gold medal in front of their fans

Bosnia and Herzegovina put the finishing touches on a dream U18 European Championship for Men Division B by beating the Czech Republic in the gold-medal game on Sunday in Sarajevo.

England also ended their tournament on a high by defeating 73-59 in the bronze-medal clash to become the third and last side to win promotion along with the tournament hosts and the Czechs.

The pressure was off both Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Czech Republic because by winning their respective Semi-Finals on Saturday, each made sure their teams would play in the Division A of the next U18 European Championship.

Nenad Markovic and his players wanted to sign off in style, though, and they did by capturing the title with a 76-64 triumph over the Czechs.

Nedim Buza put Bosnia and Herzegovina in front to stay with a lay-up to make it 13-12.

Adin Vrabac followed with a driving lay-up and Buza then added a pair of free-throws for a 17-12 advantage.

Baskets by Petr Herman and Jiri Soula reduced the deficit to one, but Jusuf Nurkic answered with four straight points for Bosnia and Herzegovina to reclaim a five-point lead.

Nurkic was outstanding, finishing the contest with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

Prokop Slanina's hook shot for the Czech Republic cut the home side's advantage to three, but Buza replied with a three-ball to spark a 12-0 run that put the hosts in command for good.

They went in front by 19 late in the third quarter before easing to a 12-point triumph.

Buza led the winners in scoring with 20 points while the Czech Republic's Radovan Kouril had a game-high 25 points.

Okoroh poured in 15 points and grabbed 12 rebounds while Sainsbury had 15 boards to go with his nine points.

The English led from start to finish.

They scored 13 of the game's first 15 points.

Finland reduced the arrears to 26-25 midway through the second quarter but Rowell Graham, Tyrell Isaacs and Sainsbury each scored to spark a 13-2 run for England and they were in command the rest of the way.